I have an affection for romantic comedies that is so elusive that it’s a secret from just about everyone, including myself. In fact, it’s so elusive that I tend to forget it exists within a few hours of watching one. Whenever I see a preview for a new rom-com my eyes instinctively roll back in my head and the words “Oh God…” almost involuntarily slip out. The trailers for movies like Notting Hill, The Notebook, The Bachelor, and the like were pretty thoroughly uninteresting to me, although I ended up loving all of them. Almost without exception, I tend to suffer miserably through the first 30 minutes or so and then end up delighted by the end. Sometimes I really don’t get myself.

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, close friends in real life for almost ten years, play Margaret, the overbearing corporate boss, and Andrew, the long-suffering but highly reliable employee. Andrew has ambitions to move up in the publishing industry where they work, and Margaret exploits his dreams to mold him into her office slave without any intention of allowing him to move up in the world. Bullock is amazingly good at playing the boss-from-hell, too. She reminds me of this nightmarish boss I had in high school when I worked for Ameci’s Pizza in Irvine. You know who you are, Stacy…

Andrew reacts to his discovery of his own engagement.

When it is revealed that Margaret is a Canadian immigrant with an expired visa, she springs this marriage plan on an astonished Andrew, and the mission begins to keep the reality of the whole situation a secret so she can stay in America and Andrew can stay out of prison.

For a movie as predictable as this one and that has as many cheesy scenes and cheap laughs, I should admit that I am surprised that I liked it as much as I did.  There’s a scene where Andrew’s entire family is gathered around urging Margaret and Andrew to kiss, but not just a peck, a real kiss, and I imagine we’re supposed to laugh at the awkwardness of it all but it falls completely flat, no doubt because it’s the grandmother who is pressuring them to make out and I was just a little distracted wondering what kind of grandmother does that. Then again, this particular grandmother, an endearing performance from Betty White, also dresses up like a Native American and does tribal dances in the woods. Another scene the movie could have done without.

Did I mention unnecessary scenes? Can't remember if I mentioned that or not.

Director Anne Fletcher has never exactly blown me away with her work in the sit-com genre. I can’t ever imagine a situation that would lead to me suffering through Step-Up, her 2006 directorial debut, and not just because her second film, 27 Dresses, is one of the most god-awful romantic comedies that I can ever remember seeing. She doesn’t do much of anything new in The Proposal, but she constructs a generic romance around a highly familiar formula and ultimately allows it to laugh at itself, as evidenced in one of the movie’s funniest scenes, which is, get this, the grandmother’s heart attack scene. The movie is trudging through ancient romance clichés, but before you smack your forehead for having wasted your time and money watching it, give the movie a chance to show you that it knows exactly what your’e thinking. You’ll know when you see it.

I find it pretty difficult to avoid feeling a little cheated by the introduction of the beautiful and likable character of Gertruade (Malin Akerman), Andrew’s former girlfriend who is sort of brought in occasionally to allow Margaret to display her secretive affection for Andrew through brief moments of jealousy. The problem is that she is clearly the best person for Andrew to be with, but she disappears from the movie and his life in order to pave the way for the Hollywood ending. But even though this is only one of a great many clichés that the movie recycles, I would by lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

The Bean Meter

3.5 Beans out of 5.